Machine for filling and folding packages.



Patentediuly 4', I899.

(Applicltiofl filed Mar. 4, 189B.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

No. 628,l78.

.1. m. HOWE. MACHINE FOR FILLING AND FOLDING PACKAGES.

Patented July 4, I899.

(Application filed Mar. 4, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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i V UNITED STATES PAT T. Q CE JOHN M. HOWE, 'OF'SANYFRAINCIYSCIO, CALIFORNIA, l

MAC Hil NE" F-C R Fl L Ll AN o fFoiLo'l ZPAC K AoEs. .I-

wimwe forming p rt of Letters Patent mama, dated uiy-a, 1899 v Mr filegflliar'ch 4, .1898- Serial 672,529. No modell) J T at whom it may concern/L Be it known thatv I, JOHN M. HoWE,a citi zen of the United States, residing in the city and cou'ntyof San Francisco, State "of California, have invented an Improvement in Machines for Filling and Folding Packages; and

I hereby declare the followi'ng to' be a full,

clear, and exactfdescription of the same. I

My invention relates to an apparatus which is designed for they formation of packages from long strips of pape ythe filling of said strips with any desired powder in measured quantities,-the folding of the strips to inclose the powder, cuttingit off into lengths, and afterward folding the'ends to complete the package.

The invention comprises a continuously-opcrating mechanism by which the above results are produced.

It also comprises details of construction which will be more fully explainedby reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the same. Fig. 3 is longitudinal central section through the hopper and connections. Fig. 4iS lateral section on line w a; of Fig. 1. of the finishing device. Fig. 6 is a detail of the cutter.

I have here shown myapparatus as mounted upon a long table or frame A, having supported above it a hopper'B, into which the powder or loose material to be made into packages is placed. In the bottom of this hopper is fitted a slide 0, having in that portion within the hopper a-chamber c of such dimensions as to contain the quantity of the .pow-

der which it is desired to place in each package. This slide is reciprocated by connections to be hereinafter described, so as to draw the chamber 0 forward at each reciprocation, and .the contents of the chamber will fall through the bottom of a platform B, which extends in line with the bottom of 4 the hopper, as shown. The slide is operated by means of a lever D, suitably fulcrumed between its ends to one side of the frame and having the upper end connected with the slide by ,means of a pin, as at d, or other suitable connecting device, and-the other end of the lever is connected to a bent or curved arm Fig. 5 is a front viewable inguides uponthe outside of the. main E of a reciprocating slide Ejwhich is movcarrier.- The material fallingfromthe chamberof the carrier passes-down into a directing chute or hopper G. This hopper is fixed toa plate I-I, which is suspended from a yoke or hanger I, so that its bottom is heldabove the surface of the table A. This is for. the purpose of allowing the long strip of paper from which the packages are to be formed to r pass beneath this plate Hand the hopper.

The paper passingbeneath the plateis in the form of a long or endless strip of sufiicient width to form the desired package, and as the paper arrives at the point where itpasses be-v neath the plate. its edges are'first turned up .by passing between the guides 1 upon each.

side and any wrinkles in the paper will be smoothed out.

The powder passing through the directingchute Gr is deposited intermittently in the paper trough or strip as thelatter passes beneath it, the movement of the strip of paper.

being so timed with relation to the discharges from the feed-hopper that these deposits will be made at a sufficient distance apart to allow the paper to be afterward cut and folded about each'deposit, so as to form the proper-sized packages. As the paper is moved along the upper edge of one side passes beneath the turned-over edge J, which is formed upon oneside and near the front end of a vertical plate J, which extends upwardly from the bottom plate H and forwardly from the directing-chute G. This edge turns over one side of the edge of the paper, and the paper still traveling along passes into another folding-plate K, which turns the other edge of the paper and folds the two over upon themselves. The paper being thus foldedpasses beneath a carrier which consists of a trans verse bar L, fixed to an arm L, which projects from a shaft M, journaled just above the trough in which the paper continues its passage after leaving the folding devices. As the folded paper passes beneaththis bar L the latter is intermittently pressed down upon the paper by the action of the rocking IOO bar N, which is fixed upon the shaftM and which is connected by a pitman O with a reciproc'atin g slide F, through which the motion is transmitted.

The lower face of the bar L maybe serrated or otherwise roughened, so as to have sufficient frictional hold to move the folded paper along at each forward reciprocation of the slide F. When this slide F is again retracted, the action of the pitman 0 upon the rocking lever N immediately tilts it back and raises the feed-bar L from the surface of the paper until a lug M at the bottom of the rocking arm N contacts with the plate Q, upon which the journals of the shaft M are mounted. This plate Q is slidable upon the main frame or table A, and as soon as the rocking arm N has been tilted backwardly so as to raise the feed-bar L the lug M, contacting with the plate Q5 prevents an y further backward movement of the arm N; but the slides Q, by which thebar L is carried, are moved back wardl'y upon the main frame until they reach the point where the feed-bar is to next engage the paper to again feed it forward. This feeding device is useful to move papers or other sheets of any description which are to be advanced successively and intermittently. The movement of the slide F is effected bythe connect-ion of a pitman R with a crank R, the throw of which is suificient to produce thevnecessary movement of the parts. The folded paper being thus moved forward at each rotation of the crank R by the connections, as previously described, will pass beneath a vertically,- reciprocating cutter S. Thiscutter has connected with its lower end an elastic or fulcrumed arm T, the opposite end=of which is pivoted or secured at some distance from the line of movement of the cutter. At a point intermediate between its fulcrum and the cutter it hasconnected with it an arm.or yoke U, within which is made an opening through which the shaft of the crank-arm passes, and upon this shaft is fixed acam V of proper shape, so that its outlines or-angles will engage with the openingof the yokeU', and thus raise and depress it, and with-itthe'cutter S, so that the paper is regula-rlyseveredat intervals between the points wherethe powder has been deposited. This being. done it is necessary to complete the operation of inclosing the powder by folding-the ends ofthe severed papers over upon the package, This is effected by passing the paper overatable V, which table has a length equal to the desired length of the package, theends being made sharp, so as to make a sha-r-pifold. Above this table is a verticallyreci procating plate X, which is actuated as will'be hereinafter described and which has journal'ed ineach end the shaft Y, carrying the folding-plates y. Upon the ends of the shafts are fixed pinions a, and these pinions engage with fixed'rack-bars b, so that as the plate X is moved up and down the pinions, and with them the shafts Y, will be rotated, andthis rotation will cause the folding-plates y to swing under the edges of the table W,

upon which the package lies. A sharp downwardly-projecting edge 1 extends across beneath the movable plate X and at such a point that the oscillating folding-blades y will press the paper against this edge, and thus make a sharp fold at those points. The package being thus folded is afterward slipped ofl sidewise from the table by hand or by an automatically-operated pusher connecting with the actuating mechanism.

The table is given its upward movement by means of a bell-crank lever c, fulerumed at its angle, having one arm engaging a pin upon a vertically-movable guide which carries the plate X. The other arm projects downwardly in such a position that it is engaged' by a pin 0' upon the crank R, which as it passes downward strikes the long depending arm a of the bell-crank lever, and thus causes the lever to turn about its fillcrum-pin and depress the plate X, with the result of turning the shafts Y and the, folding-plates 1 as previously described. After the crank R has passed the arm 0 the parts are restored to their normal position'and' the plate X raised,so as to tu rn the folding-plates y:

outward ly again by con tact of the-cam-shaped end f of'an extension f of'the sliding plateF,

which actuates the carrier-bar L, these two moving in unison, so that as the parts'a're retracted the camfcontacts with the arm c of the bell-crank leverand pushes the latter and the guide-bar of the plate X upwardly. A frictional plate or spring, fixed to the device as shown at g, serves to retain the parts in this raised position until they are again forcibly moved down by the action of the crankarm again coming in contact with the bell crank lever.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for formingpackages, the combination of a horizontal table, thc'snperposed feed-hopper, a horizontal slide in the bottom of the hopper, and having a meas uring-chamber, a directing chute or'hopper and means suspending it above the table to provide a passage beneath forthe strip of paper, guides for said strip and by which the sides are upturned to form a channel, means for folding the edges of thestrip, a vertically-disposed arm fulcru med between its ends and disposed on the outside ofthefi'ame, and having its upper end connected withthe feed-slide, a second slide mounted horizontally on the outside of the frame andhaving a plate is carried, a slide upon which the rockshaft is mounted, a rocker-arm connecting with the shaft,a pitman connecting the rockerarm with a mainreciprocating slide whereby the rocker-arm is tilted forward by the advance of said slide so as to press the feedplate upon the movable surface to advance it upon its supporting-table, and a lug projecting from the foot of a rocker-arm which limits the backward rotation of said arm and by its contact with the slide upon which it is mounted, causes the rock-shaft and feed-plate tobe retracted after the feed-plate has been lifted, in unison with the movement of the main slide.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a filling side-folding and feeding mechanism, with mechanism for actuating them, a vertically-reciprocating cutter, beneath which the folded package is impelled by the feeding device, a means for reciprocating the cutter to sever the packages into equal lengths and a mechanism including oscillating blades for subsequently folding the ends of the packages.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the filling, folding and feeding mechanism with means foractuating them, a reciprocating cutter for severing the folded strip at equal lengths, a table upon which the severed portion containing the powder is supported, a vertically-reciprocating plate above the table and swinging plates carried thereby to fold the ends of the package beneath the table.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a folding mechanism consist-ing of a table upon which the package is supported with the ends to be folded projecting beyond the table, a vertically-reciprocating plate movable above the table, shafts extending across each end having pinions fixed to them, stationary toothed racks with which the pinions engage, folding-wings connected with the shafts and turnable by the downward movement of the plate so as to fold the ends of the paper beneath the table.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, a stationary table or carrier upon which the parts are supported, a main slide, a crank-shaft and pitman connecting with the slide whereby it is reciprocated, connections whereby the feeding mechanism is-reciprocated by connection with the main slide, a vertically-reciprocating folding-plate, a bellcrank lever connecting with said plate, and a pin upon the crank-shaft adapted to engage the lever and depress the plate at each revolution of the crank-shaft.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, the main reciprocating slide, crankshaft and conectin g-pitman whereby the slide is moved, an independent slide carrying the feed mechanism and connected with the main slide to be moved thereby, said slide having an extension-plate with a cam-shaped end, a folding mechanism for the ends of the packages consisting of a table, a vertically-reciprocating plate and folding wings carried thereby, a bell-crank'lever connecting with the reciprocating folding-plate, and a pin upon the crank contacting with said lever so as to depress the folding-plate,the cam-shaped end of the supplemental slide acting to return the parts to their normal position by the return action of the crank and connected slides.

Inwitness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN M. HOWE. Witnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, JESSIE O. BRODIE. 

